Restless Night
By: Cece Williams
((Disclaimer: Look, you guys. If I did own YYH, I sure wouldn't be writing fanfiction.))
Kurama: This may be Cece's toughest chapter thus far.
Cece: Might? Took me about three days just to think of the chapter title.
Yusuke: I'm just wondering where the romance starts in this.
Kurama: Yusuke!
Cece: Get your mind out of the gutter, Urameshi! Anyway, read on.
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The team separated for the night. By that time, Kurama was walking down the street back towards home. His emerald green eyes were filled with mixed emotions: anger for Jason hurting Andrea, worry if she would make it, and guilt for not being at her apartment sooner. Of all three emotions, his face showed more guilt than the other two. "Why didn't I stay at her apartment?" Kurama asked himself, not really knowing Hiei was right beside him. "Then, she wouldn't be there."
The Youko in him shook his head. "And if you did? Then YOU'D be there in that hospital, and your girlfriend..."
"Youko, she's not my girlfriend!"
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight."
"You couldn't have done anything." A familiar voice broke in the conversation.
Kurama blinked and turned around, seeing the source of the familiar voice. Now he felt embarrassed at first talking to himself and now thinking to a Youko who thought any girl he looked at was his girlfriend. "Hiei," he said his friend's name, trying to hide the worry that was evident in his voice.
Hiei rolled his ruby eyes. "No, I'm the idiot with the dancing cat," he said half-sarcastically.
Kurama gave him a blank stare with a sweatdrop down his head. Trying to imagine that Hiei was Kuwabara was odd indeed. "Reading my thoughts again?" he asked his friend, leaning against a tree.
"No, it's plain as day on your face."
Kurama blinked his jade eyes. He was trying to hide the pain in his eyes and his face, but evidently, Hiei saw right through him. "I don't understand what you mean," he answered, looking at his friend.
"Don't give me that load of shit," Hiei said to him. Hiei knew there was something wrong with Kurama, and it started at the hospital. Something about Andrea made him tick, and it didn't take a genius to sense that. "You know what I'm talking about."
"She's not my girlfriend, Hiei, if that's what you're implying."
Hiei flitted to the branch above the kitsune and looked down at him. "It's not, but you can't predict every disaster that'll happen to a person you care for each second of every day."
"Or a person you love..." Youko said in his mind.
Kurama smacked Youko mentally. "Shut up!"
Hiei crossed his arms against his chest and gave a ruby-colored gaze down at Kurama. "Thing is, Kurama, you couldn't have predicted that she would be hurt by him," he continued. "These things just happen. You know that. Remember?"
"But it didn't "just happen," Hiei," he answered, sitting down under the tree. "I think he waited for a night when he knew she would be alone."
"Kurama, it's her apartment. She's alone every night."
"Not that night when you became her pillow, Shuichi," Youko's voice entered his brain.
"Don't make me feed you to Hiei's Dragon."
Since Kurama wasn't answering him, Hiei continued. "Kurama, you can't fix everything. Like you couldn't fix your mother's illness without the mirror. You nearly died to see her happy. What if you had died? Would she be happy that her only son sacrificed himself to save her?"
Kurama only looked at the ground, knowing Hiei had a very good point.
"She wouldn't have been happy. Her son died while she had lived. Yusuke was right in what he said. No mother should see the death of her only child. It's about the only thing he got right."
Hiei was right about that, and that was why Kurama wasn't answering him.
"Same is said about Andrea. If you had been there, you would have died. I heard the reports last night. The power lines went out. The whole building was pitch black. With your human senses, you wouldn't have even seen him."
Finally, after a long silence, Kurama opened his mouth. "How could Andrea slip into a coma in that short amount of time?"
"Shock then coma," Hiei corrected.
The image of Jason's face burned in the back of Kurama's mind. "I have a feeling I know who did it. But I shouldn't pursue it now."
"I agree. You should get some rest till your head's back on straight. You're not thinking clearly tonight and will most likely disrupt you during your raid."
"How could he think straight? His girlfriend almost got killed!" Youko said in Kurama's mind as Kurama mentally smacked him with an oak branch.
"I'll check on you tomorrow. If I say you are unfit, you wait till I say you are. Agreed?"
Kurama nodded his head and headed for home. He had never acted like this before. Now it seemed that Andrea invaded his mind more than it should. Just the thought of Andrea lying in the hospital, defenseless, made him uneasy.
Meanwhile, Shiori had woken up to hear the door close. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she got out of bed and walked downstairs. She looked at a clock, which read 2:30AM. She blinked again as she found the remote and turned on the TV. Her eyes widened at the breaking news.
"We've just received word that 17-year-old Andrea Stone has now slipped into a coma about 25 minutes ago. There's still no word..."
Shiori raised a hand to her mouth in shock as Kurama walked back in. She heard the last of the report doe away as she looked at her son. "Shuichi, where have you been?" she asked the redhead.
Kurama blinked his emerald eyes and looked at his mother. "Mother, you're awake?"
Shiori nodded and stood up, a worried look in her eyes. "Did you hear?"
"What?"
"It was just on the news," Shiori answered. "Andrea's in a coma."
The mere mention of her name made Kurama feel even guiltier, like he could have helped her sooner. "Yeah, I, uh, I knew."
"What kind of person would hurt her? She's such a sweet girl."
"Someone who's going to die very slowly..." Youko said in Kurama's mind.
"Calm down, Youko," Kurama mentally told his kitsune half before outwardly answering his mother. "A cruel man, Mother. A cruel man."
Remembering that it was still early in the morning, Shiori took a deep breath, which ended in a yawn in her hand. "Well, I should get back to sleep. Good night, dear."
"Good night, Mother," Kurama said as his mother went up the stairs. Then he went to his room and lay down on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Part of him wanted to hunt him down, but another side of him couldn't find the strength to. Most of him, however, was in shock. Andrea was now fighting for her life, and there was nothing he could do except pray she would recover quickly.
A flicker of light caught Kurama's eye, making him look to his desk and pick up an object; it was Andrea's angel pendant that she had given him over a year ago. His mind floated back to when she gave it to him…
(Start Flashback)
"Oh, there's something I want to give you," Andrea said, digging into her purse and pulling out an angel pendant with a chain.
Kurama raised an eyebrow. "What's this for?"
Andrea clasped the necklace around his neck. "Who knows?" She whispered in his ear. "When you're fighting, you'll know I'm with you."
Kurama smiled again. "Same with me with your hardships."
(End Flashback)
Kurama looked at the pendant again. It was a silver angel holding a blue-colored gemstone. It matches Andrea's eyes, he thought to himself as he gently picked it up. "Sapphire…" he mumbled as he looked at the stone closely. A smile graced his once-concerned face as he set it back gently on the desk.
He let out a small chuckle as he swore he could hear Andrea's voice inside his head. Go to sleep, Kurama. I'll be all right. He blinked and looked around, only to find he was alone in his room. He laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. Maybe some sleep would do him good.
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((Sorry about the long wait. I wanted to write this last week, but there were thunderstorms all last week. I know it's short, but hope you like it anyway.))